Draining batteries

[gbmacca]

My pen neighbour has a 47 Caribbean (Bertram) and his batteries keep draining. Only thing which is drawing is small 12v beer fridge and computer systems.
4 new 700amp hour batteries - lasted 3 weeks and electrician can't figure where power is draining.

Now has to keep on constant charge.

Any clues/ideas/previous experience anyone?

Cheers

Gbmacca

[jamhass]

Look at the specs for ALL of the loads (are some running through an inverter? if so, add another 20%). Add the loads up, and you might be surprised at how quickly 700 AH can go away.

Otherwise, get a decent clamp-on ammeter and start searching.

[Kokanee]

That sounds like a normal drawdown.
My 880Ah battery bank draws down about 10% per day running only a small fridge. If I have the solar charger off, it would be dead in a week.

[Compass790]

What jamhass said,
Did the electrician say what the power draw was? The fridge alone could be 70 amps per 24hrs. Do you mean he has 2800 amp hrs capacity in total? I guess it must be if it runs for 3 weeks. He needs some solar if he doesnt want to run a generator & boat isnt connected to shore power.

[smac999]

3 weeks running a small frige is very good. I would have said a few days....

of course it needs to left plugged in if the fridge is left on.

[denverd0n]

Electrician can't figure where power is draining!?! I think your friend needs to find a better electrician!

Refrigerators use a lot of electricity. If you want to run a refrigerator, you cannot expect to last very long on batteries alone. They will absolutely need to be recharged on a regular, frequent basis.

[Rapanui]

If the beer fridge is a Peltier one rather than a compressor one, they are very inefficient and can easily draw 5A continuously.
Any decent electrician would find out what's going on.